Mechanical football center



Oct. 23, 1956 H. R. MAXCEY, JR., ET AL MECHANICAL FOOTBALL CENTER 2Sheets-Sheet l Filed Sept. 22, 1955 fINVENTOMt T IOIZ T WI'LCPL.

ATTORNEY Oct. 23, 1956 H. R. MAXCEY, JR., ETAL 2,767,985

MECHANICAL FOOTBALL CENTER Filed Sept. 22, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2yINVENTORS Hert/eq' l?. Maxeq c/r.

Felton T ATTORNEY United States Patent() lVIECHANICAL FOOTBALL CENTERHervy R. Maxcey, Jr., and Felton T. Wright, Brownwood, Tex.

Application September 22, 1953, Serial No. 381,641

6 Claims. (Cl. 273-55) The present invention relates to automatic ballthrowing devices and specifically to a football passing deviceduplicating the motions of a football center.

The quarterback of a team in receiving the ball from center andcommencing the execution of various plays consumes hours of practice inwhich the services of the center are not actually necessary. The centerspresence is not required for many attack formations and his position andrepetitions passing of the ball backwards between his legs is arduous.

The present invention is a frame supporting a padded replica of aportion of the centers legs and buttocks and has a trigger within thebuttocks which sets the device into action, snapping the ball into thehands of the player behind in an exact duplication of the manner of thecenter receiving the signal of a slight touch on the leg from thequarterback.

The invention has for its principal object to provide a machine forpassing a football backwardly in the exact manner of the center playeron a team.

A further object is to provide such a machine whose actuation isinitiated in response to the identical signal used by the quarterback tothe actual center.

A still further object is to provide such a machine which is easilyportable out to the field of practice.

Another object is to provide a means of adjusting the strength of thethrowing mechanism to the desired amount of thrust of the ballrearwardly.

lThese and other objects and advantages of the invention are readilyapparent from the following description when taken with annexeddrawings, in which;

Fig. l is a side view in elevation of the invention showing in dottedlines the position of the elements when a ball has been passed to aplayers hands.

Fig. 2 is a top view.

Fig. 3 is a partial side view partly in section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a rear view in elevation on line 4-4 of Fig. l.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the ball holding portion of the machine online 5 5 of Fig. l.

Fig. 6 is a view in section of the main frame only taken on line 6 6 ofFig. 1, and

Fig. 7 is a view in section of the main frame only taken on line 7 7 ofFig. l.

Referring to the drawings in which like numbers indicate like partsthroughout the several views for Figs. l and 2, main frame 10 is shownto be supported at its forward end by a leg 11 adjustably secured inshoe 12. The frame 10 is presumably of light weight channel iron orother suitable material and is shown in Figs. 2, 6, and 7 to have a slot13 substantially its full length. The frame 10 has a box portion 14 asseen in Fig. 6 which is taken on line 6 6 of Fig. l and shows only thesection where the trigger mechanism extends through hole 15. A rear setof legs 16, one on either side have wheels 17 at their lower ends,making the machine easily transportable by lifting the front leg 11 andwheeling it out onto the eld,

2,767,985 Ice 1 Patented Oct. 23, 1956 although the wheels may beomitted and the device supported on the ground.

The ball passing part of the mechanism is seen to consist of arm 18ending in cross member 19 on which are adjustably positioned two lingers20 which are covered with a resilient material in order that 4thefootball placed thereon is not scuied. Fingers 20 are slightly curved toreceive the football 21 as shown in Fig. l. Arm 18 is bent at an angleat 22 and extends upwardly through the main frame 10 and out of slot 13and is formed at its end to be a handle 23. A hook 24 on arm 18 (Fig. 3)is engaged by trigger 25 which extends through hole 15 on the bottom ofbox portion 14 and upwardly out of hole 26. This hole 26 is a slightdistance rearward of the slot 13. A spring 27 biases the trigger 25downwardly, the bottom of .the trigger ending in a nut and washer 28 orother suitable anchoring means in the sponge rubber padding 29 which isformed as an approximate representation of the centers buttocks. Abumper 31 and a second bumper 32 of rubber or other resilient materialprotects the handle 23 and adjustable stop 33 on which bumper 32 ispositioned as a tongue portion 34 extending through the slot 13 andserves to maintain the width of the slot in order that the handle 23does not bind. The arm 18 is biased forwardly by spring 35 and ispivoted by angle braces 36 which are seen in Figs. l and 4 to beattached to the sides of the frame 10.

In operation, as seen in Fig. l the arm moves forwardly and upwardly tocast the ball into the hands of a receiver. The extent of the throw ismade adjustable by moving the stop 33 forwardly or backwardly on frame10. The strength of the throw is made adjustable by securing the springto other hooks 37.

The receiver in actual play signals the center of his team in severalWays, one of the most effective being the slight upward touch of thebacks of the hands on the nether portion of centers buttocks. Thissignal, while also accompanied by a verbal signal is generallyunobservable by the opposing team members. It will be seen in thisinvention that this signal is duplicated by the backs of the playershands (Fig. 3) to lift the trigger 25 from the hook 24, therebyreleasing the arm 18 to snap the ball upwardly.

While a vsingle embodiment of the invention has been thusly describedand illustrated other embodiments are contemplated and manymodifications and changes may be made thereon without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention in which it is claimed.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, whatis claimed is:

l. A football passing machine of the type which resembles a bent overcenter member of a team comprising a substantially horizontal frameending at its rear with a facsimile of the buttocks of the center, saidbuttocks being of padded and resilient material, a ball holding meansmovably suspended beneath said buttocks, an arm pivotally mounted onsaid frame and supporting said ball holding means, trigger meansconcealed in said buttocks releasably engaged with said arm, and powermeans biased to move said arm and said ball holding means in a directionwhich would pass the football placed thereon upwardly into the hands ofa receiver.

2. The device as set forth in claim l together with a pair of legs atthe rear end thereof on which are wheels for the convenience of movingthe machine.

3. The device as set forth in claim l in which power means for movingsaid arm and said ball-holding means is a resilient member attached tosaid frame and adjustably secured to said arm.

4. A football passing machine resembling in action the centers manner ofpassing a ball rearwardly to the quarterback comprising a substantiallyhorizontal frame having an inverted U-shaped configuration for a greaterpart of its length, a slot in said frame length-wise thereof, an armtransversing said slot and extending below said frame, a pair of bracesattached to said frame and pivotally supporting said arm at their lowerends, front and rear ground engaging support means mounted on saidframe, a facsimile representation of the centers buttocks of spongerubber or the like, a trigger biased downwardly mounted in said frame atthe rear end thereof and fastened to said simulated buttocks, means onsaid arm for releasably holding the football, other means on said armfor engaging said trigger and power means biased for motivating said armto pass a football into the hands of a player when said trigger isactuated by upward pressure of the 1 players hands on said simulatedbuttocks.

5. The device as set forth in claim 4, said rear ground engaging supportmeans consisting of a pair of spread legs attached to said frame, saidpassing arm extending between said spread legs.

6. The device as set forth in claim 5, said front ground engaging meansconsisting of a single leg attached at its upper end to said frame and aground engaging shoe adjustably positioned on the lower end of said leg,and ground engaging wheel means mounted at the lower 10 ends of saidspread rear legs.

Beasley et al May 18, 1937 Paupa Sept. 5, 1950

